“We highly value our long track-record in being acknowledged as one of the world’s most sustainable companies. Sustainability and mitigating climate change are central themes in Kesko’s strategy, and we are committed to corporate responsibility and sustainability actions with a long-term focus. As a trading sector operator, we play an important role in making people’s everyday lives more sustainable. This requires constant effort, which is why we are setting even tighter targets for both our own operations as well as those of our suppliers,” says Riikka Joukio, Kesko’s Executive Vice President of Sustainability and Public Affairs.
The ranking of the world’s 100 most sustainable companies is based on a sustainability assessment of nearly 7,000 companies, which were assessed on 23 indicators related to environmental and social responsibility and good corporate governance.
Kesko ranked 69th on the list (up by 18 since last year). In addition to Kesko, Finnish companies on this year’s list include Neste, Metso Outotec and Nordea.
The Global 100 list has been published annually at the World Economic Forum in Davos since 2005.
"Kesko is the only company in history to rank on the Global 100 every year since 2005. It is a singular achievement underlining the extent to which sustainable leadership is embedded within Kesko's culture and core business operations," said Toby Heaps, CEO of Corporate Knights.
Corporate Knights Inc. has a media division which includes the business and society magazine Corporate Knights, and a research division which produces corporate rankings, research reports and financial product ratings based on corporate sustainability performance.
Emission reductions and sustainable selections as key assessment themes
Climate action and sustainable investments and selections carry a large weight in the corporate assessment on which the Global 100 ranking is based. The assessment focuses, for example, on how much companies are investing in renewable energy, and how large a percentage of store selections are plant-based products.
K Group aims to reach carbon neutrality by 2025, and to cut emissions from our own operations and transports down to zero by 2030. In addition to our own operations, our emission reduction targets extend to our supply chain. Our objective is to have science-based reduction targets set for two-thirds of Kesko’s direct supplier emissions by 2025. We also aim to reduce absolute emissions from the use of sold products by 17% by 2026.
Key measures to achieve these emission reduction targets include using 100% renewable energy, improving energy efficiency, and switching to biofuels in transports in Finland.
In 2020, Kesko joined the CDP Supply Chain programme to challenge its suppliers to reduce and report their emissions.
K Group also encourages its customers to make more sustainable choices. In recent years, we have added more plant-based proteins and products made from edible food waste to our selections. Our K-Ostokset service, which offers customers the possibility to track e.g. the carbon footprint and nutritional values of their grocery purchases, makes sustainable choices easier.
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